Infant safety while sleeping has always been a concern for parents. The occurrence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) has heightened that concern. At present, the cause of SIDS is unknown. It has been theorized that SIDS may be due to infants suffocating by rotating or rolling face down on a mattress or into an obstacle which blocks their breathing, and then not having enough strength to raise their heads or move away from the obstacle.
A support pillow is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,238 by Clute. The support pillow comprises two elongated right triangular members which have thin sheeting material extending from and beyond one lateral edge of each elongated triangular member with mating hook and loop fastening strips on the sheeting material to attach the elongated triangular members together. The vertical walls of the elongated triangular members oppose each other defining a channel. The infant lies lengthwise on its side in the channel on top of the sheeting material. Another fastening strip joins the triangular members above the infant and secures the infant in place. The infant's head projects out one end of the channel and its legs project out the other end of the channel. This ensures that the infant's breathing is not hampered since the infant's face cannot be pressed against a vertical sidewall.
Another embodiment of support pillow is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,772 by Clute in which an elongated recess is formed lengthwise in each vertical sidewall of the support pillow shown in the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,238 with excluding means to prevent a child's face from entering the recess.
Patent Cooperation Treaty Application No. PCT/CA90/00145 (WO91/16842) discloses a restrainer for maintaining an infant on its side. One weighted chock member normally is placed on a mattress against the back of the infant and a second weighted chock member is placed on the mattress against the infant's chest and stomach. The chock members are joined to each other by a band of quilted fabric which wraps around the infant.
The above patents relate to complex infant support pillow structures which require the joining together of pillows by fastening strips for interaction of the two support pillows to prevent movement of an infant.